The Impulsive One's Lady
by DelenaDJ
Summary: PART OF MY CANON COLLECTION. They slaughtered the werewolves. They survived the sacrifice. They lost the Originals. Through blood and loss, the Monahans continue their lives in Mystic Falls, searching for love and vengeance. DxOC SEQUEL TO THE NOBLE ONE'S LADY
1. Bones

The rock solid body of a black tiger shot through the forest, pursuing its prey, a cream-colored wolf. A werewolf. Although it was smaller than the tiger, it was no match for its hunter's superior strength. Within seconds, it was captured in its jowls, but not before it unleashed a surprise of its own. Its talons sliced through the tiger's stomach and the mind of Emma Monahan was accosted by horrid visions.

Damon woke up with a start in his bed. Something didn't feel right. Something was off. Could it be Emma? She'd left a week ago to track down a lead on Klaus and Stefan. He flopped back down on the sheets and thought back over the summer. He smirked. His girl was truly a goddess, well, when she was here. She was dead set on killing Klaus. Damon had accompanied Emma on some of her hunting trips, but remained in Mystic Falls this time to keep an eye on Elena. Emma and Damon had both agreed they needed to keep her existence a secret and they had no intentions of using her to draw Klaus out. On the bedside table, Damon's phone buzzed.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Owen?" Damon growled after glancing at the caller ID.

"Get your ass into the Shenandoah Forest. I've texted you coordinates."

"You find Stefan?"

"It's Emma." Like a rocket, Damon shot out of bed, threw some clothes on, and sped out of the house toward the nearby forest. He sensed the tale-tell smell of the Ancients and hurried toward a cave near a creek. Owen, Liam, Sean, and Dominic were standing outside, Dominic holding a first aid kit.

"Where is she?" Damon demanded. He then heard roaring and growling from inside the cave.

"She refuses to shift back," said Dominic.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. She's cut off the telepathic link and she about ripped off Liam's head. We can't get her to calm down."

"What happened?"

"Shenandoah's our territory. We sensed a werewolf pack and hunted them down. Emma took the Alpha, but it managed to scratch her. I think before it died, it managed to transfer memories to her. It's rare, but it can happen among shifters."

"I take it she didn't like what she saw."

"I have no clue. She's not healing."

"Why?"

"When we're in tiger form, we don't heal," Sean answered. "She needs to shift back." Damon then grabbed the first aid kit and headed toward the cave.

"Hey, you sure about that!" Liam yelled.

"Isn't the first time I've risked my life for a woman," Damon shot back. He walked further into the cave, following the noise of Emma's growls. A small lantern lit up the cave and on a bed of grass Emma was pacing. Damon noticed blood dripping from her stomach onto the grass. "Oh, babe." The beast inside Emma glared at him and hissed. Damon placed the first aid kit on the ground and Emma's red eyes darted around the room, her fur glowing a soft purple. "Whoa. Hey. It's just me." Emma roared and whimpered. "Shh, babe. It's just me. It's Damon. It's Damon." Emma shook her head. "Honey, I need you to focus. You're bleeding a lot. You're going to pass out if you don't stop pacing."

_Don't tell me what to do,_ Emma replied activating their telepathic link. Damon rolled his eyes.

"That's my girl." Emma shook her head again and growled in frustration. "Baby, you're wounded. I need to look at your wound."

_So dizzy._

"That would be the pacing and the blood loss. I won't say it again." Emma tilted her head and laid down onto the floor.

_You're sexy when you're mad._

"Shut up," he smirked. Emma sucked in a deep breath when Damon placed a hand on her rib cage.

"This isn't good. Babe, you need to shift."

_I can't. Everything hurts. Just make it go away._

"I can't if you don't shift."

_Not the wound. The memories. Make them go away._ Damon ran his hand through the fur on her face.

"Emmy, I promise I will make everything better but you have to shift back. If you don't, you're going to bleed out."

_It'll hurt so bad._

"I know. But I'm right here and I'm not leaving you. Do it for me. Please." With a roar that turned into a blood-curdling scream, Emma shifted back into her human form. Damon immediately grabbed some gauze from the kit and placed it on her wound. He took her hand and placed it over the gauze. "Put pressure on it."

"It hurts. Make it stop. Make it stop!" Emma cried. Damon lifted up the gauze. He grimaced.

"You're healing slowly. It must be all the mental stress. It's got your healing factor off kilter. Emmy, I need you to take a deep breath. In and out. There you go. That's my girl. Tell me what happened."

"The wolf. He was sent by Klaus. He infected me with his memories. Filthy dog."

"Tell me."

"He's not human."

"Aren't we all?"

"No." Emma grabbed at her jacket. "This one was different. He hurt people. Children. Little girls. He liked it."

_Oh God,_ Damon groaned internally. _That's what set her off into such a rage. _

"Hey, look at me. He did that to get to you. You know that. Just focus on me. Focus on my voice. Don't let him win. It's okay. Think about something happy. Tell me about it." Emma cupped his face.

"The first day we met."

"Augustine? That's your first happy thought?"

"No," Emma chuckled and then groaned. "Don't make me laugh." Damon wrapped a bandage around the gauze to hold it in place. "1864. Mystic Falls. I was in the woods, feeding. It was late. I saw you riding your horse home along the road. You were the most handsome man." Damon picked her up.

"Upsy daisy. Alright, come on. Keep talking."

"I followed you. You got in an argument with your father when you returned home. You were so passionate about quitting the war. That was the first moment I realized…I wanted you."

"You got me, babe. You got me."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed her forehead and she dozed off just as they breached the mouth of the cave.

"Is she…" Owen trailed off.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Owen. She's fine. Just needs some sleep."

"What the hell happened?" Liam asked.

"The wolf mind-fucked her. That's what happened."

"Yeah with what? Big sis is strong."

"You guys may be old, but you're not invulnerable. Emma has her own weaknesses too, you know."

"Oh, yeah? I liked to see that."

"You little idiot," Damon growled.

"What was that?"

"You have no idea, do you? She's never told you. Figures. You four never did get the treatment we did at Augustine. They just took your guys' blood and toyed with it on others. Us, vampires, at the main camp, we got the worst of it."

"Damon," Dominic interjected as Damon walked out of the forest with Emma and put her in his car. "You need to tell us so something like this ever happens again."

"They wanted to break us so we'd be compliant. They tried everything they could think of. When I met Emma, she was just about at her breaking point. The physical torture…she was a pro at it. She always told me to find a place in my head that I could go to to dissociate myself from it, but they soon picked up on that. So they resorted to other methods. Psychological torture. It didn't take them long to find Emma's hot button."

"What did they do?"

"They chained us up, drugged us with vervain, and they tortured children in front us. Beat them, burned them, molested them. Emma couldn't handle it. She asked them one day, why, how they could do that on human children, their own kind? You know what they said? 'They're runaways, no one cares about them so why should you?' And they call us monsters. She lost it. A complete psychotic break. I was the one who put her back together. The wolf was a pedophile. You get it now? I'm taking her to my place. She needs some space."

"We'll head back to our property," said Dominic. "Take good care of my sis."

"Don't I always?" Damon then screeched off into the night with Emma. When Emma awakened, she saw the early morning sun peaking through the window. The first thing she realized was she was in Damon's room in an empty bed.

"Damon?" she groaned.

"In here," he called from the bathroom. She groaned as she got up from bed and clutched the bandage wrapped around her stomach. She walked into the bathroom and saw Damon in the bathtub, enjoying a bath.

"There room for two in there?"

"Hop in." Emma pulled off her clothes and ripped off the bandage. She groaned in pain.

"Stupid ass werewolf."

"You okay?"

"I'm healed for the most part. Just a little tender." She stepped into the warm water and relaxed against Damon's chest. He massaged her neck.

"You sure you're alright?" Emma knew exactly what he was probing for.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. Can I ask a question?"

"I may not answer."

"Why does it set you off like that? Children."

"Any person with their humanity abhors maltreatment of children."

"Sure, but you react differently than most normal people. You refuse to shift and almost kill your brothers. It's personal for you."

"Damon, I love you and it's because I love you that I'm going to ask you to not push this. I can't talk about it. I'm not ready." Damon stroked her arm.

"Okay." Emma turned to look at him.

"That's it? 'Okay?'"

"I trust you. You'll tell me when you're ready. Hmm. We're out of champagne."

"No. You're out of champagne. I haven't even had a drink from the bottle."

"Well, would you be a dear and get…"

"I think you can probably get it yourself. I'm not your slave."

"Have I mentioned how much I love your snark?"

"All the time." Damon rose from the bathtub. "Damon, you're dripping a little."

"Mm-hm." He walked out of the room and Emma chuckled. She then heard Elena enter the Boarding House. "This'll be good."

"Morning," Damon said from behind Elena.

"Hey, I was gonna…" Elena turned around and was stunned when she saw Damon, stark naked and dripping with suds. She immediately turned around. "Oh my God! You heard me! You knew that I was here."

"Yeah, you should learn to knock. What if I was indecent?" Elena put one hand over her eyes and with the other hand she grabbed an afghan and threw it at him. She turned around but still with one hand over her eyes. He wrapped the afghan around his waist and Elena peeked between her fingers to make sure he was covered up. She saw he was and dropped her hand.

"Sheriff Forbes gave us another location to check. Memphis."

"Another dead end you mean," Damon replied as she handed him a piece of paper.

"You don't know that."

"You're right, Elena. This could be the one. After almost two months this could be the one clue that tells that Stefan is alive and well and living in Graceland."

"Fine, I'll go by myself." She went to leave and Damon sped in front of her.

"Right, and let Klaus know you're tracking him. He thinks you're dead; let's keep it that way."

"It's a new lead, Damon. We haven't had one in a while."

"Okay, I'll check it out. If I find anything I'll call you."

"But..." Damon walked back upstairs into his room. Emma was out of the tub, putting some fresh clothes on. Damon opened his closet door where there was a map with a lot of notes. He pinned the note on the map.

"They moved on to Tennessee."

"Huh, that one victim you had me looking in to had family in Tennessee."

"Which one? Pensacola?"

"Yup."

"Up for a road trip?"

"I'll meet you there after I catch up with my brothers. Bring Alaric. He's a hoot."

Later that day, Damon and Alaric pulled up to a house in Tennessee.

"So where is she?" Alaric asked. Damon grabbed a pair of binoculars out of the glove compartment and looked into the forest. He then handed them to Alaric. "What am I supposed to be looking for?" A black tiger then shot out of the forest. "Whoa. Is that…"

"Yup."

"She's…scary."

"Hello, boys," Emma said telepathically as she reached the house.

"Whoa. Telepathy. Cool, man." Emma rolled her eyes. Damon's phone then rang. He immediately silenced it.

"Elena?" Alaric asked. Damon made a face. "I don't know why you just don't come clean and tell her where we are."

"Because this is a half-lead and I don't want to get her hopes up."

"Well, they're all half-leads and I'm your accomplice. What do you want me to say to her? I'm' practically living there."

"Still sleeping on the couch?"

"You know, I keep waiting for them to kick me out but they don't. I don't know why. It's not like I'm helping or anything." Emma then sniffed the air.

"What's up?" Damon asked.

_This scent,_ Emma transmitted.

"It's quiet," said Ric.

_Hmm. Too quiet. Stay behind me. Something isn't right._ Emma nudged the door open with her nose and stalked inside. The walls were painted with blood. Emma cleared the rest of the house and joined Damon and Alaric in the living room. They saw two women sitting on the couch. They were both dead.

"Ugh. Vampire for sure," said Alaric.

"Stefan for sure," Damon corrected.

"How do you know?"

_It's his signature, _said Emma._ There's a reason they call him the Ripper. Feeds so hard he blacks out, rips them apart, but when he's done, he feels remorse. It's the damndest thing. He puts the bodies back together. _Damon moved one of the girl's legs with his foot and her head fell off onto the floor.

"Back together?"

"Definitely Stefan." Emma then smelled that scent and followed it. She scratched at the floor. "Emma, what is it?" He lifted up the rug and opened a trap door. Inside, it were chains. Emma then shifted.

"Well, what do you know? Werewolves. I thought I recognized the stench." Damon left and then returned with a gas can that was sitting in the house's garage. He started to pour it over the bodies.

"What are you doing?" Alaric asked.

"Covering their tracks. Clearly they have no interest in staying in the dark, but we do." Damon then lit a match and threw it on the bodies, burning them. The two vampires and hunter then left.

That evening, Damon and Ric were drinking on the porch while Elena's birthday party continued inside.

"I am every parent's worst nightmare. I am the chaperone teacher from hell," Alaric said.

"I love high school parties."

"Isn't Emma supposed to be coming?"

"Went to change and talk with a contact at the news station. Should be here in a little bit. Hello, birthday girl," Damon said as Elena walked out.

"Drink." Elena took Damon's bottle of bourbon and took a long sip. "Jeremy's smoking again."

"Is his stash any good?" Damon asked.

"You're an ass," Elena said as she turned to Alaric. "Talk to him. Please. He looks up to you."

"You're screwed," Damon muttered.

At the news station, Emma walked into the studio when suddenly a huge headlight was turned on, blinding her.

"Hello? Not cool. My retinas are burning." The light then turned off. "Hello?" She then looked up. "Oh my god!" She looked up and saw Stefan with a small child on the scaffolding. "Stefan."

"Hello, Emma."

Damon received a text from Emma a few minutes later.

"Emma wants me to pick her up. Hold down the fort, will ya?"

"You mean the fort full of my drunk history students?"

"Drink more. It'll feel less weird."

Thirty minutes later, Damon arrived at the news station looking for Emma. His phone then rang.

"Party Central," he answered.

"Where are you!" Elena yelled.

"Umm, by the punch bowl."

"Don't do that Damon. Don't lie to me! I saw your closet."

"Oh...oh, I gotta go break up beer pong." He hung up and entered the studio. "Emma, let's…what's wrong?"

"Look up." He followed her gaze and saw Stefan with a young boy on the scaffold.

"Hello, brother," Stefan greeted.

"You don't write. You don't call."

"I need you to stop following me. It's causing some problems."

"With who? Klaus? I'm supposed to care what he thinks?"

"What you're supposed to do is let me go."

"Saw your latest artwork in Tennessee. You're walking a fine line there, my friend. Keep that up and there will be no saving you."

"I don't need any saving. I just want you to let me go."

"Can't do that."

"Maybe I haven't made my point."

"Damon, he's compelled the kid," Emma replied.

"I can't move. I can't move."

"Just say calm," said Emma.

"Not cool, brother! He's a kid," Damon growled.

"Oh, come on. A little bit cool. No? Hey, Michael. You can move now."

"No, no, no," said Emma. Before she could save him, Stefan pinned her to the wall and the boy fell to his death.

"I said let me go." Stefan then disappeared and Damon and Emma rushed to the boy. He was dead.

"Son of a…" Emma then sped out of the building. Damon stopped by the Boarding House and saw Elena in his bedroom.

"What? What are you doing here?" Damon asked.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep it a secret?"

"Can we not do this right now? I'm having a really bad night."

"All summer, every single time I came to you with a lead, you made me feel like an idiot for having hope."

"You were an idiot. We both were."

"Tell me what you know, Damon."

"I know you need to get back to your party, Elena."

"We're supposed to be in this together. Why didn't you tell me that you've been tracking Klaus' victims?"

"Because they're not Klaus' victims, Elena, they're Stefan's!"

"What?"

"He's left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard."

"No. You're wrong."

"I've seen it happen before. He's flipped the switch, full blown ripper."

"Stop it, Damon."

"No, you stop, Elena! Stop looking for him. Stop waiting for him to come home. Just stop! Stefan is gone and he's not coming back. Not in your lifetime." Damon then left to find his girlfriend. He walked into the old part of the cemetery and found Emma looking over a grave. "Em?"

"Son of a bitch. That bastard Klaus. He told him and they used my weakness against me."

"What are you talking about? I'm the only one who knows about that. Only Augustine vampires from the main camp know about what we went through."

"Klaus knows. I don't know how, but he does. Damnit."

"It's okay."

"We are so far from okay, Damon! He knows my weakness. He knows what happened."

"Let me help you."

"How are you going to help me, Damon? I have a psychological trigger in my brain. I can't control it. I can't deal with…"

"Tell me and I promise I will help you get through it. What happened that was so bad that whenever you see a kid get hurt you lash out?" Emma nodded to the grave.

"Logan. Somebody you know?"

"Yeah. You could say that. He's my son."

"Wha…" Emma leaned down and wiped the dust off the grave.

"When I was human, I was betrothed to the leader of our tribe. We had a son. He was the light of my life in a time that was filled with bloodshed. He died before ever being able to make his mark on this world. He was five when he was brutally murdered."

"I'm so sorry."

"After that I was turned into a vampire with my brothers, cursed to never bear children again, unless they were born of my blood. When we moved to the Americas, I brought him with me. I couldn't bear for my son to be an ocean away."

"Why Mystic Falls?"

"This was where we first settled. I would always come back to visit my baby boy. I always tell you I don't have regrets about being a vampire, but this…this is my regret. That I can't bring him back or what I lost in the process of turning."

"Hey." Damon pulled her into him. "I don't have an inkling of how we'll pull it off, but when we put this Klaus thing to bed, we'll find a way, okay?"

"Damon, I can't saddle you with…"

"Hey. I love you. There is no woman in the world I could see myself with but you. And I've never really thought about it, but I could do the whole kid thing."

"You'd be good at it."

"Don't be afraid to tell me anything, baby. Don't twist yourself in knots afraid of what I'm going to say."

"I'm happy. I thought you would never be open to something like that."

"I am open to whatever makes you happy, love."

"You make me happy." She then kissed him.

"But maybe we should get married first before we think about kids."

"You're going to have to come up with a better proposal than that, Salvatore."

"Oh, I plan on it," Damon smirked. They laughed and walked hand in hand back to the Boarding House.


	2. Letters From The Sky

It was early in the morning for Emma as she heard shuffling in the bedroom she shared with Damon.

"Baby?" she murmured.

"Shh. Just go back to sleep," Damon mumbled wearing only a pair of jeans as he removed the stack of papers he had collected in his closet from his time tracking Stefan. Emma plopped back onto the bed and just as she was about to fall back asleep Elena stormed into the room.

"Elena, you have the worst timing," Emma murmured as she pulled up the sheet around her nude form.

"Just can't stay way can you?" Damon asked.

"You've been dodging my calls."

"Yeah, well, busy covering up the latest in Stefan's spree."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Happy Birthday, Elena. Stefan killed a kid. Cake?" Emma retorted as she sat up in the bed, wrapping the sheet around her.

"He called me."

"What?" Damon and Emma asked.

"Stefan called me last night."

"Well, what'd he say?" Damon asked.

"He didn't say anything, but it was him. I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin. It came from Tennessee."

"Where he's binge drinking on the country folk. We went through this, Elena. Stefan's gone. I don't mean geographically."

"If he was gone, he wouldn't have called." Damon answered Elena's unasked question by burning all the papers. She left and Emma sighed at the tense exchange. She hugged her boyfriend from behind.

"It's okay, you know."

"Hmm?"

"To want to find him. He's your brother. It's natural for you to want to." Damon surprised Emma by picking her up.

"All I want right now is to spend a couple more hours in bed with you and take in every drop of your beauty." Emma smiled and they kissed as they fell onto the bed.

Several hours later, Alaric and Elena were walking in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

"In a couple hours, the full moon's gonna rise just above that ridge. If Tyler's right, that's where the pack'll be," said Alaric.

"You were a boy scout, weren't you? A boy scout, slash vampire slayer?"

"Slash whiskey-drinking all-around lost cause." They stopped walking and he opened his back-pack stashed with tons of weapons.

"Wow. You came stocked."

"Well, we aren't exactly bird-watching. Here. Put that in your bag."

"Vervain grenade?"

"Wolfsbane."

"Well, since we're exchanging gifts..." She showed him John's magical ring.

"That's John Gilbert's ring."

"It was yours once. Go ahead. Take it. It'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into."

"He gave it to you."

"Yeah, but I'm a doppelgänger. It's not gonna work on me. He left it for if I ever have kids."

"Yeah, well, then why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts?"

"Okay, and how 'bout you borrow it until after we survive this? I'd feel bad if I got you killed before happy hour." He took the ring and they moved closer to a ridge overlooking a lake. "I don't know why you think that you're a lost cause." Suddenly, Emma arrived and tipped Elena off the ridge and into the water.

"Emma! Damon! How are you even here?"

"Thanks for the tip, brother," Damon smirked.

"You sold me out!" Elena glared at Alaric.

"You think I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?"

"Get out of the water, Elena," said Damon.

"If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me go home."

"Yes, because I'm not an idiot like you."

"Right now, you're both acting like idiots," Emma replied.

"You gave up on him, Damon."

"I didn't give up on him, Elena. I faced reality. Now get out of the water."

"No!" Damon growled and got into the water.

"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh? You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?"

"My plan is to find him and help him. Damon, this is the closest that we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse," said Emma. "That makes you safe. This, this is not safe."

"I'm not leaving before we find him."

"It's a full moon tonight, Elena," Damon replied.

"Then we'll find him before then. Damon, please."

"Okay. Okay. But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait."

"I promise."

"Fine." They got out of the water. A few minutes later, they were walking up a hill.

"How you doing?" Emma asked Elena.

"Fine."

"You know, I could help you."

"No thanks."

"Just one little push."

"Yeah with my luck, you'd drop me."

"What are you guys, 12?" Alaric asked. "We've got about a mile left."

"The sun's about to set," said Damon.

"I can see that, Damon," Elena snapped.

"I'm just saying."

"The moon doesn't reach its apex for a while. We have time." They heard some twigs snapping and a man walked out of the bushes. Emma stepped in front of Alaric, Elena, and Damon.

"Vampire," the man growled. Emma hissed and he rushed over to Emma. They fought and Damon helped Emma push him against a tree. He tried to bite them, but Alaric shot an arrow at him. Elena took a wolfsbane grenade from her bag.

"Emma!" She threw it to her and Emma pulled the pin, causing it to explode in Ray's face. He screamed, his face burning. Emma threw the man off her and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him unconscious. She flipped some stray strands of hair out of her face.

"Stinking hybrid," she growled. A few minutes later, Damon and Emma were tying the hybrid to a tree. "These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer. What else do we have?"

"Ric here," said Elena as she sprayed vervain on a rope. "Take these." Damon touched it but his skin burned.

"Aah! OW!"

"I said Ric." Alaric took it and tied it around the hybrid.

"All right, that's the last of the vervain. We don't have enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that ridge before the full moon."

"If we can get him to talk, we don't have to," said Emma. The hybrid then screamed.

"Is he turning?" Damon asked.

"That's impossible. It's still daylight," Emma replied.

"Tell him that," Alaric retorted.

"There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full," said Elena.

"These ropes aren't gonna hold a wolf," said Emma as she held the hybrid down. "Go! Now!" They ran, but Elena tripped. "Elena, do not move." Elena raised her head. She came face-to-face with a werewolf. Emma's eyes then glowed purple.

"Here, doggie, doggie." She transformed and led the wolf away.

"I'm going after her. Get out of here!" Damon yelled, rushing deeper into the forest.

"Come on. Let's keep moving," said Alaric.

"We can't leave them."

"They can handle themselves. Let's move."

"No. If they get bit, they'll be dead. I'm the reason they're out here."

"I am the reason they're out here. I told them where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go. Elena, now!"

Later in the night, Damon was walking through the forest searching for Emma's scent when he ran into Stefan.

"Fancy meeting you here," said Damon.

"What part of 'don't follow me anymore' got lost in translation, Damon?"

Suddenly, the hybrid in wolf form jumped out of the bushes preparing to pounce on the two vampires when Emma in tiger-form jumped over Damon's head and crushed the hybrid between her teeth. Blood oozed onto the ground as Emma chomped down harder. Damon cringed. She then shifted back satisfied at the hybrid's death, blood running down her mouth and blouse.

"Might want to take it up with your girlfriend. You don't want her chasing you I'd stop with the late-night phone calls," Emma snapped.

"I didn't call her."

"Sure you did. She's not gonna give up on you."

"She has to. Because I'm never coming back. Why don't you get her home? See if you can keep her there this time." Stefan then sped away. Emma and Damon then joined Alaric and Elena by their SUV.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked.

"We're fine. Bite-free. Get back in the car, please," Damon replied.

"Can you just give me a minute to appreciate that you're not dead?"

"I'll give you 10 seconds. 9, 8..." He caught her by the arm and pushed her toward the car. "Hey, Ric, did you happen to see where I parked my car?"

"Damon, stop being such a caveman." As the two carried on, Emma turned to the forest and narrowed her eyes. She watched as Stefan fled. Maybe there was hope for him after all.


	3. Light A Fire

"You're interrupting my drink," said Damon through his phone, making sure to have answered promptly as Emma was still asleep.

"You miss me?" Katherine asked.

"Katherine. Where are you?"

"Lurking outside your window, pining away."

"What do you want?"

"I'm homesick. What have I missed?"

"Well, Stefan's still Klaus' little prisoner and Elena still thinks she can save him and no one's thought about you since you left."

"And what about you? You given up on Stefan already?""

"Oh, I'm thoroughly occupied with Miss Emma Monahan. She is so much better in bed than you."

"Tch. Whatever."

"And I didn't give up on Stefan. I just don't know where he is."

"Hmm."

"But you do. Are you trailing them?"

"A hybrid who wants me dead and his sidekick who's off the rails? I couldn't be further away."

"Which means you know exactly where they are."

"All I know is that Klaus pitched a fit once his hybrids didn't work. Now he's looking for some answers."

"How do you know that?"

"Spend 500 years running, and there will be a few people along the way that are looking out for you."

"Is that what you're doing? Looking out for my brother?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I'm conflicted."

"Where are they?"

After gleaning Stefan's location, Damon walked back upstairs and sat on the edge of the bed beside Emma. She stretched across the bed and opened her eyes.

"Hmm. You're up early," she yawned.

"I've got to leave for a little while."

"Where are you going?"

"Windy City."

"Chicago? Why?"

"Stefan's there."

"What? How did you…"

"Katherine."

"And you trust her?"

"I trust her enough to know she knows exactly where Klaus is so she can be miles away. I'm going to take Elena with me."

"Hmm. The doppelwhore."

"Hey. Be nice."

"Why? You're going off on for what all we know is a wild goose chase with a delusional human. Not to mention you two have history. Excuse me if I'm not thrilled." Emma rolled on her other side so she wasn't facing him.

"Are you jealous?"

"NO!" Emma yelled too quickly and she knew it. She pouted.

"Emmy, I thought we were past this. You know who I want." He tried to turn her to face him, but she wouldn't budge. "I love you."

"Yeah. Whatever. Go spend time with your pet human." Damon scowled and wanted to probe Emma on her mood change, but he didn't really have time to waste. Unfortunately, he'd have to deal with his girlfriend later. He kissed her temple.

"I love you, forever and always." He then left. Emma sighed and flipped back onto her back, her hand hanging over the side of the mattress. A tear rolled down her face onto the sheets. He couldn't know. He couldn't see her today. He couldn't see her this weak. Emma looked up at ceiling and counted the wood panels. She then felt something wet on her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dominic in his tiger-form licking her hand.

"You're getting stronger, Dominic. I didn't sense you that time." Dominic then shifted as Emma pulled on a robe on the side of the bed.

"You didn't tell him."

"He doesn't need to know."

"He knows about Logan."

"He doesn't know about _him_. He doesn't know what happened back then."

"How long have you been dating?"

"That's irrelevant."

"Emma."

"He saw me weak and broken once. I don't want him to have to see that again. He's going to Chicago. Call Sterling. Have him keep an eye on them. I'll meet you and the others at the graveyard shortly. I need to prepare."

Dominic left and Emma rose from the bed. Over the morning hours, she took a bath, soaking in essential oils and the scent of bath salts. She sat at her armoire and put on her make-up before dressing in a red dress with black lace, a black trench coat, and black heels. She pinned her hair up into a loose bun. She took a deep breath, her hands trembling, and steeled herself for the day. Meanwhile, Dominic was walking through the woods on the phone with Damon.

"What do you mean you're going to a funeral? Who died?" Damon asked over the phone.

"It's a ritual we do every year. Today is Logan's birthday."

"Oh."

"It's also the day that he and his father died."

"Oh God."

"If she was snippy at you, that is why. I just thought you should know."

"Thanks for telling me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"She'll be at the cemetery all day. She never leaves until the next sunrise."

In town, Emma got out of her car parked in front of a local flower shop. She walked into the store and purchased a large bouquet of white, pink, and red roses and lilies. As she was about to walk out of the door, Tyler almost ran into her. Emma lifted up the roses so Tyler didn't ruin them.

"Tyler! Watch it!" she yelled.

"Sorry," he panted. "I need your help."

"Today is really not the day for you of all people to be asking me for favors."

"I know you're still pissed that I bit Damon, but I can't find your boyfriend and I really some help of the undead kind." Emma noticed his desperation.

"What's happened?"

"It's Caroline." Emma walked to her car and placed the flowers inside. "Emma?"

"It's your lucky day, kid," she replied as she walked back onto the sidewalk. "Because I'm in need of a distraction and I happen to like your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Uh-huh. You keep telling yourself that. Let's walk. You can fill me in."

Meanwhile in the cellar underneath the Sheriff's department, Caroline was burning through a small window. She cried. The sun's rays then disappeared as a blind covered the window.

"I don't hurt anyone, I swear. Dad, I swear. I can handle the urges. I can!"

"If you could handle it, this wouldn't happen." He put a bag of blood in front of her and she vamped out.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"I'm conditioning you to associate vampirism with pain, in time, the thought of human blood will make you repress your vampire instincts completely."

"That's impossible. Daddy, you can't change who I am."

"Yes, I can."

"No."

"You remember this feeling?"

"No! No! No! No, no!"

He pulled on the chain again to make the sun appear. Her skin burned and she screamed. He then closed the blinds.

"I want you to know, when Carol Lockwood called and told me about you... I sat down and cried."

"Dad, I'm okay. I've learned to adapt. I don't need to be fixed. I can't be fixed."

"I've always taught you to try your best. I need you to try your best now." He put a blood bag in front of her and she didn't vamp out. "There. See? You're doing it."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Fight the urge."

"Daddy, I'm starving."

"I know you are, Car. Try."

"Why? You know that this isn't going to work."

"It has to work. It's the only option."

"Why are you trying to fix me?"

"So I don't have to kill you!"

"Daddy, I'm sorry." She vamped out.

"The sun's beginning to set. We'll try again tomorrow." Suddenly, the door was thrown off its hinges. Emma vamped out and hissed at him. Bill approached her, but Emma raised her hand and Bill was thrown into the wall. He tried to move, but couldn't.

"Struggle all you want. It won't work." Liz then appeared behind Emma.

"Liz?" Bill asked.

"Hello, Bill."

"I know what I'm doing."

"That's our daughter. She looks up to you. She loves you."

"Then she'll trust me to do the right thing. Let me do this, Liz. Not because she's a monster. But because we love her."

"You love her?" Emma asked disgusted. She flashed in front of Bill and grabbed him by the throat.

"Emma," Liz said, alarmed.

"If you really felt love, you wouldn't do this to your own child. Tyler." Tyler went down the stairs and broke Caroline's chains.

"It's okay. We're going to get you out of here."

"My ring," said Caroline weakly. He took it, put it on her finger, and carried her out of the cellar. Emma then threw Bill into the chair and chained him up.

"Let's see how you like being restrained like a dog," she replied before turning to Liz. "You're going to stay in here for a while so the vervain leaves your system and then I'll let my boyfriend have his way with you." Emma then left with Liz, slamming the cellar door shut.

"I don't know what to say," said Liz.

"A thank you would be nice," Emma replied.

"Of course. I just meant…"

"I know what you meant. Hold on to her. It's a gift what you have. Cherish it."

"Are you okay, Emma?"

"Yeah. I am. It's just one of those days where I start to feel my age. Take care, Liz."

"You too, Emma. I have no doubt that whatever you lost, you'll recover it." Emma chuckled.

"Well, I'll be damned. I must be getting real old when humans start to surprise me. Good night, Liz."

"Good night, Emma."

Emma then left the town square for the old cemetery where the entire Monahan Clan had been gathered. A variety of herbs, candles, and bowls had been assembled.

"Are we ready?" Emma asked. Her brothers nodded.

"We just need your blood," said Owen. Emma picked up a dagger resting on a headstone and cut her palm. She let the blood flow into a bowl and swirled the blood with the herbs. Emma placed the bowl on a headstone and wiped the dust off the two headstones on the ground, one reading Logan and the other Adam. Emma poured the blood over the graves.

"May the blood of the Monahan's protect your souls for another year, my beloved husband and son." Emma stood over the graves as if in a trance and the Monahan brothers took that as their cue to leave Emma to her solitude, her grief which she only released for 24 hours every year. Emma kneeled onto the ground and picked up the bouquet of roses she'd rested on a headstone, unaware of the figure behind her. "I brought you flowers this year. I know I don't always, but they have such a wonderful flower shop here I couldn't resist. It felt right. I miss you, my baby boy. So much." Emma felt as if her grief was about to explode out of her as tears came to her eyes. "Your smile, your laughter. I miss being human and with you. I hate it, this wretched form that I am. This monster, these emotions. 2,000 years and they still threaten to consume me whole. It's unbearable, the transformations, the powers, all of it. I wish I could bring you back. God knows I've tried. And Adam, God. It shouldn't have happened like that. I don't know why I never saw it. I just know that every year this day comes I see it in flashes…the day she killed you, that spear piercing your heart. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything for you. I'm sorry she's dead because if she was alive I would torture her for the rest of eternity for what she took away from me, from us. And I know what you'd say. 'Don't do it, Aemiliana. You're more than revenge. You're more than this grief.' And maybe that's true, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm not the girl you once knew. This vampirism, these years…they've changed me. There is a part of me that is happy. For over a hundred years I've never told you about him. I want to now. You'd like him. He's a lot like you. Handsome, brave, loyal. Different from Elijah. I never thought I would find love again after you and I didn't with Elijah, but with Damon…" She smiled. "I'm happy. I want you to know that. That even though I suffer over the mistakes I've made, that I'm trying to make up for it. I'm trying, Adam." Emma then heard a shuffle and rose from the ground to see Damon. She took in the white rose in his hand and his black dress shirt and pants. "You shouldn't be here." Damon walked toward her and hugged her, dropping the white rose onto the graves. "Don't look at me please."

"Shut up. Stupid woman. Let it out. Let it all out. You can call me selfish, but I can't stand to see you in such pain. I'm your boyfriend, god damnit. You're supposed to tell me these things."

"I'm sorry," she cried. She wailed as the grief consumed her and they both fell to the ground. Damon wiped her tears away.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Now you know how pathetic I really am," Emma sniffed. Damon kissed her.

"It's not pathetic. You're not weak, my love. You're beautiful. Tell me. I want to know everything."

"I've told you most of it."

"Not how it happened."

"Logan and Adam were murdered on Logan's birthday."

"Who did it?"

"A witch."

"Witches. Never liked them."

"This wasn't any ordinary witch though because she had the unfortunate pleasure of being my sister."

"What? Why? Was she jealous?"

"No. She wasn't jealous. The lives of Logan and Adam were the price of a spell. That's what their souls were worth to her. I wanted to die that day they were put in the ground, but fate's a bitch."

"I'm sorry I left. If you told me…"

"Don't. I was being stupid."

"Emma."

"It's okay. Would you just hold me until the sun rises?"

"I will if you promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Don't keep it all bottled up. Talk to me. Tell me how you're feeling, okay? Otherwise, I can't fix what's wrong. Promise me."

"I promise." Damon pulled Emma into his arms and she burrowed into his chest as they waited for the sun to rise over the souls of Adam and Logan.


	4. Get Some

"So Mayor Lockwood called your gay ex-husband to torture your vampire daughter?" Damon asked as he and Emma walked down the street with Sheriff Forbes.

"Yes. Emma helped us rescue her."

"You're welcome," Emma replied.

"I've been keeping him detained to make sure the vervain's out of his system. So you could, you know..." She pointed to her eyes.

"Can't we just kill him?" Emma asked.

"No! He's Caroline's father."

"He sounds like a douche-bag to me," Damon replied.

"Yeah, well, just 'cause you and I are on okay terms doesn't mean that I'm suddenly a big advocate for your 'lifestyle.'"

"Is that what you told him when you two got divorced?" Damon smirked. Liz rolled her eyes as Emma laughed.

"Double check him for vervain before you compel him," said Liz when they reached the cellar. Emma opened the door and pulled away the duct tape on Bill's mouth.

"You brought another vampire into this?" he asked.

"It's the best thing for all of us, Bill," Liz replied.

"So, Bill, I hear you're into the whole daddy-daughter vampire torture thing," Damon replied.

"I was trying to help her."

"Well, if there's anyone who doesn't need help, it's your annoying control freak of a daughter." Damon bit the man's neck and drank some of his blood. "Yup. He's vervain-free."

"Just erase his memory, Damon."

"Hold on. Not so fast," said Emma. "I have a question, Bill. What makes you think that you can change the basic nature of a vampire?"

"The mind's a powerful tool. It can be trained and retrained. You just have to be strong enough."

"Oh, yeah? I completely agree. I actually happen to love mind control myself," said Damon. He grabbed Bill's face and began to compel him. "You will leave town immediately. All you remember is you came to bring your daughter back to school shopping. Let's go, Emma. We're going to be late."

The two vampires then left for the Founders' Barbeque. Emma's phone rang and she walked into the house to take the call while Alaric joined Damon by a table featuring chili made by all the founding families. Alaric handed his friend a beer.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Founders parties are just an excuse for the council to gather in back rooms and plot against vampires."

"Huh."

In the Lockwood's Mansion, Emma was on the phone with Owen.

"What do you mean we should make a deal with her? This is frickin' Katherine Pierce we're talking about."

"She has information on how to kill the Originals, sis," Owen replied over the phone. "I set up a meet tomorrow night."

"Fine."

"She wants something in exchange for her services."

"Of course she does."

"Elena's necklace."

"Hmm. Well that I can do. Later, brother." Emma then walked into the secret council meeting and joined Damon.

"There have no been no questionable incidents since spring. It's been quiet," said Sheriff Forbes.

"Anyone else have anything to add to the minutes? Damon?" Carol asked.

"Ah, no, I think the sheriff covered it, Mayor Lockwood. Looks like we've made it through the worst."

"Well, I have nothing new to add, so thank you all for coming." Everyone left except for Carol, Damon, Emma, and Liz. Bill then entered.

"I have a question. Do you four think that everybody on the council is clueless...or just stupid?" They all looked at Bill, shocked.

A few minutes later, Emma and Damon were walking down the hallway, Damon cursing all the way.

"Where are we going?" Emma asked.

"To talk to Elena. I'm going to have to kill Bill."

"Oh yeah like little Miss Gilbert is going to be okay with you killing her best friend's dad. Why are you going to her? Just do it!" Damon looked at her. "Am I the only one who sees anything around here? She's trying to make you like Stefan. She's…" Damon walked out of the house. "Damon! Don't walk away when I'm talking to you! Where are you going!"

"To prove you wrong." She followed Damon as he joined Elena and Alaric. "Wait, wait. Houston, we have a problem."

"Where have you been?" Elena asked. Emma rolled her eyes. Like it was any of Elena's business.

"Managing Bill Forbes. Apparently he's impervious to compulsion."

"How?" Alaric asked.

"I have no idea. But he threatened to out me. Don't get me started on the irony of that."

"What did you do to him? How do you know the compulsion doesn't work?"

"That's not the most important piece of information I mentioned, Elena."

"What does he want?" Alaric asked.

"He wants to control the council. Says it's been compromised."

"It has!"

"He wants to put vervain in the town's water supply," said Damon.

"Maybe it's not a bad idea. I mean it'll help you keep yourself in control now that Stefan's not here to..." Emma scoffed.

"To what? To keep me in check? Make me behave? I should have killed him this morning," said Damon.

"He's Caroline's dad, Damon," Elena replied.

"Yeah, and when I kill him, she'll have one more parent than we do."

"Oh, come on, Damon!" Alaric growled.

"You're repeatedly killing my buzz today, Ric. Step aside."

"Yeah, it's not going to happen."

"Your temporary funeral." He snapped Alaric's neck.

"Damon, no! What is wrong with you!"

"I hate to say I told you so, but…" Emma trailed off as Damon glared at her. He walked back into the house.

"Emma!" Elena yelled, trying to get the woman to do something. She only chuckled and followed her boyfriend. Inside Mayor Lockwood's office, Bill was pouring himself some scotch when Damon entered the room, Emma trailing behind him.

"Whoa. Is that scotch? I figured you for an abstainer," said Damon, leaning against the door frame.

"Everything in moderation. Keeps the mind clear from...influence."

"Like vampire compulsion."

"Yeah, I tried to tell you..."

"Yeah, yeah, powerful tool. Got it. I'm impressed. Can't say I've ever seen that before."

"Well, it takes a certain human focus. It's a skill that I've been honing for decades. Plus, your technique...is a little lazy."

"Duly noted. I'm curious. Why not just expose us to the council?"

"I know you think I'm the bad guy here, Damon, but I would never expose my own daughter to those morons."

"It's a pretty risky move, taking me on, don't you think?"

"I knew what I was risking when I didn't leave town, but I figured...you're not self destructive enough to kill the sheriff's ex-husband."

"Makes you the third person to underestimate me today." Damon rushed over and bit Bill, drinking his blood. When he stopped, Bill was on his knees. "Whoo."

"Feels good doesn't it?" Emma asked.

"You know, I almost forgot how good blood tastes when it's...fresh."

"What are you going to do? Kill everybody who discovers your secret?" Bill asked.

"No, I'm not going to kill you, Bill. I'm just going to find pleasure in perfect little moments like this." He bit him again but Caroline stopped him, throwing him against the wall and into a window.

"Oh come on!" Emma yelled. "Let's teach this ass-hole a life lesson."

"Get out!" Caroline yelled.

"Or what?" Damon asked. She hit him in the face and threw him on the desk. He strangled her.

"I'm stronger than you, little girl," Damon replied as Elena entered the room.

"Well, I'm angrier!" She broke his arm and threw him against the wall. Caroline then sped Bill out of the room.

"Are you crazy!" Elena yelled. "You can't do this anymore, Damon. Not in this town. Not around me."

"Why not? It's nothing I haven't done before. Why is it suddenly so important for everyone to keep me in check?"

"Because I don't want you to be what other people think that you are."

"What? A monster?" Emma asked. "Sorry to disappoint you, Elena, but last time I checked, we were still vampires!"

"I guess I wish that you didn't have to act like one!"

"I am not Stefan," Damon spat. "How about you stop trying to turn me into him?" Damon grabbed Emma's hand and then left with her. She curled her hands around his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Feel better?" Emma asked.

"Immensely."

The following morning, Emma was having breakfast with Bonnie.

"So I spoke with Elena today," said Emma.

"Oh?"

"She said she wants her necklace back."

"Yeah, I haven't figured out what's going on with it yet."

"Hmm. Why don't you let me have a whack at it?" Bonnie raised a brow. "You're young. There's lots of spells you don't know about. Don't worry. I'll give it back."

"Okay." Bonnie handed Emma the necklace. "Hey, did you know that Jeremy's been seeing ghosts of his dead girlfriends all summer?"

"What?"

"Vicki and Anna. He's been talking to them."

"You're kidding."

"I wish. It's because I brought him back to life. The witches said there would be consequences. Guess they were right." She turned her head to look at the waitress. "You know, what am I supposed to…" Emma had disappeared when Bonnie turned back around. She arrived at the Boarding House and knocked on the door. Damon opened it.

"Hey there, good lookin'," Emma greeted.

"Hey back. What have you been up to that's got you so happy?"

"I'm just a girl looking for a partner in crime. Feel like hitting the road? Getting the hell out of dodge?"

"You have impeccable timing."

"Is that a yes? I'll drive."

"Why not? Walls are starting to close in on me around here. Where are we going?"

"Away from here. That's all I'm going to give you for right now. But believe me...it's good." She showed him Elena's necklace and smirked.


End file.
